In the manufacture of plastic pails and drums it has been proposed to provide a closure receiving neck thereon by permanently bonding an internally threaded closure flange about a flat opening molded within the container wall. One advantageously employed bonding technique consists of interposing an electromagnetic bonding element at the flange container wall interface. The bonding element is energized by placing the closure assembly within a high frequency magnetic field, causing a melt zone and resultant bonding at the flange container wall interface.
Heretofore a number of difficulties presented themselves in attempts to refine the above described bonding technique into an efficient container fabricating operation. One such difficulty concerns the need for a production oriented application of the bonding element to the groove in the flange base as opposed to a strictly manual operation. Another problem concerns the need for effectively forming a strand of electromagnetic bonding material into a complete and continuous annulus. Any space gap created at the intended juncture of the severed strand ends may introduce the likelihood of failure in bonding. Once the strand is properly applied to the flange base, the problem arises of securely retaining the bonding element within the flange base groove during subsequent shipping and handling conditions.